Friday, May 3, 2013
CONFERENCE ON RWANDA
Nieuwspoort, June
4, 2013.
In
2017 new presidential elections are held in Rwanda .
Paul Kagame cannot be re-elected for a third time. It’ll be agonizing times for
the opposition. Crucial is the question: what happens with Rwanda if
Paul Kagame is no longer head of state. Is Rwanda
ready for a new leader and a new form of leadership? And if yes, which leader
and which form of leadership? And can The Netherlands be of help?
Speakers
will be Helen Hintjens, lector at the Institute of Social Studies ,
Alphons Muleefu researcher at the University of Tilburg ,
Paul Rusesabagina, ex-manager Hotel Milles Collines and Eurac, organization of
NGO’s in Great Lakes Region. Also invited is the Rwandese ambassador in the Netherlands .
Lawyer
Jan Hofdijk and Africa-journalist Anneke Verbraeken will try to manage the
debate.
The
Netherlands has a double face if it comes to Rwanda .
It postponed financial aid, because of the Rwandan support of the rebels of
M23, but also poured a lot of money and effort into Rwanda to
improve the judicial system. One can ask if that money is well spent; there are
questions about the independency of the judges for example. How important is an
independent judicial system for the future of Rwanda ?
The
darling of the international community got tainted since the previous elections
in 2010. There is criticism on the lack of political space. A UN-report,
publicised autumn 2010 accused Rwanda of
genocide in East-DRC; last year several reports were published concluding Rwanda
was supporting the rebel group M23. Rwanda is
accused of theft of minerals, of theft of land (North-Kivu) and its president
of dictatorial behaviour.
The
proponents of Rwanda praise the economic growth, the political and social stability, the
security and the amount of energy put in to the rebuilding of the country after
the genocide in 1994.
Conclusions
of the debate will be offered to the minister of International Trade and
Development, the minister of Foreign Affairs and the minister of Justice.
Everybody who is interested is invited to participate.
Debate
will be held in English. Registration
is not necessary.
DATE: June 4, 2013
TIME: 17.00-19:30 hrs
PLACE: International Press Center , Nieuwspoort,
Lange Poten 10, Den Haag
###
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home